Glen didn’t say anything, but he held her close, arms tight, jaw tense. But gradually he relaxed and so did she. They’d just found their rhythm when Richard approached and tapped Glen on the shoulder.

“My turn,” he said with the smug certainty of a man who knew he’d eventually get what he wanted.

Ellie saw Glen’s eyes flare in annoyance before he slowly released her. With his high sense of drama Richard grabbed her about the waist and dipped her backward until Ellie gasped, thinking her feet were about to go out from under her. Then Richard pulled her upright and danced her to the other side of the room, away from Glen.

Just when she’d adjusted her steps comfortably to Richard’s, Glen was back. Without a word he tapped Richard on the shoulder. Richard gave Glen a flinty-eyed glare, then unwillingly released her.

Glen gathered her back in his arms, but they hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps before Richard interrupted a second time. The two men scowled at each other.

“This is ridiculous!” Ellie cried. “What’s the matter with you, Glen?”

“Me?” he exploded.

“You heard the lady,” Richard said with a mocking smile that suggested Glen was making a nuisance of himself.

“You’re no better,” she snapped, hands aggressively on her hips.

The music faded and the couples closest to them stopped dancing to stare at the unfolding scene. Ellie had never been so embarrassed in her life. Before another minute had passed, Frank Hennessey was standing between the two men. Although he wasn’t at the dance in his capacity as sheriff, he was the law in town and no one questioned his right to intervene. Dovie Boyd, who was with him, cast Ellie a sympathetic look.

“Is there a problem here, boys?” Frank asked, placing emphasis on the last word. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that this sort of skirmish was generally reserved for adolescents.

“Nothing Richard and I can’t settle outside,” Glen said.

“Glen!” Ellie couldn’t believe her ears.

“That’s fine with me,” Richard answered quickly, raising his fists.

“Just one minute.” Frank put a hand on each man’s shoulder. “No one’s going outside. If there’s anything to settle, we’ll do it right here and now.” He nodded at Glen. “What’s the problem?”

“I’d like to finish the dance with Ellie without Richard cutting in.”

“Hey, it’s a free country,” Richard said, his tone cocky.

“Richard and I can settle this between us, man-to-man.” Glen flexed his hands a number of times, letting Richard know he welcomed the opportunity to shove a fist down his throat.

“Neither of you is leaving this hall,” Frank stated in a friendly but unmistakably firm tone. “At least not in your present frame of mine.”

“I asked Ellie to dance first,” Richard insisted.

“The hell you did!” Glen shouted.

“Ellie?” Frank turned his attention to her. “Which one of them yahoos you want to dance with?”

She glanced from one man to the other. Richard wore a smug contemptuous look and Glen’s dark brooding expression didn’t make her feel much better. It was as if he thought he had squatter’s rights or something.

“Neither one,” she announced coolly.

Glen’s mouth sagged open. “Fine,” he muttered.

“But, sweetheart...” Richard objected.

Unwilling to listen to either one of them, Ellie turned abruptly and muttered to Dovie and Frank, “I’m going to get a glass of punch.” Glen and Richard were insufferable fools, she told herself, both of them plagued with oversize egos. She refused to allow them to make an idiot out of her, too.

Every eye in the room was focused on Ellie as she marched off the dance floor. She could feel the heat building in her face; she could hear the curious whispers all over the room.

Savannah and Caroline met her at the edge of the dance floor and gathered close around her. “Are you all right?” Savannah asked.

Ellie didn’t know how to answer. Glen and Richard had made spectacles of themselves and a laughingstock of her. “I’m so furious I could scream.”

Savannah nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. Sit down and I’ll get you a glass of punch. It’ll calm your nerves.”

In her present mood it would take a whole lot more than a cold drink to calm her. Thankfully the music had started again, and as people resumed dancing, they seemed to have forgotten the incident. To Ellie’s annoyance, Savannah wasn’t the one who returned with the punch; Glen brought it to her, instead. She glared up at him before accepting the glass.

He stood beside her for a couple of moments, then wordlessly claimed the empty chair next to hers.

Ellie crossed her legs and turned slightly, granting him a partial view of her back.

“You might have let me know,” he said after several tense minutes.

“Know what?”

“That you’d accepted Richard’s invitation to the dance.”

“Oh, that’s rich.” She twisted around to face him, struggling to keep her voice under control. “You make a point of asking if I was going to be at the dance and I thought—I assumed... I spent a fortune on the dress, and the next thing I hear, you invited Nell.”

“You bought that dress for me?” His face brightened and the beginnings of a smile edged up the corners of his mouth.

“You’d look pretty silly in a dress, Glen Patterson. No, I bought it for me.”

He grinned roguishly at that, but his amusement faded when it became clear that Ellie was about to end the conversation.

“You’ll note I’m not here with Nell,” he said softly.

“Nell came with Grady, then.”

“Grady asked her, too?” Glen’s mouth snapped shut and he leaned hard against the back of the chair. He focused his attention on the dance floor. “I’d never have invited her if you hadn’t agreed to go with Richard. I thought you and I were going to meet here.”

“That’s what I thought, too.”

“But you said yes to Richard, anyway.”

Ellie bristled. “I didn’t until I’d heard you’d asked Nell.”

Glen’s face went blank, then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why, that slimy...” he muttered. “Richard told me—” Glen stopped abruptly as if he’d already said more than he intended.

“Told you what?” Ellie pressed.

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter,” he muttered.

“There’s no need to get short-tempered with me.” Ellie crossed her arms and glared straight ahead.

Beside her, Glen crossed his arms, too, and scowled darkly at the other side of the room.

***

It was now or never, Caroline decided. Pete Hadley had just announced that the next dance was ladies’ choice. Heart pounding, Caroline slowly approached Grady. He sat next to Cal Patterson, and they were deeply involved in conversation. Her guess was that it had something to do with Glen and Ellie. The pair were the subject of a great deal of comment tonight. Little wonder, considering the scene they’d created earlier. Both of them now sat at the end of a row of seats, arms crossed and looking about as miserable as any two people could get.

About as miserable as she’d been the past few days—since her most recent encounter with Grady.

Couples were already heading toward the dance floor, and if she waited any longer, she’d miss the opportunity entirely. Savannah, on Laredo’s arm, cast her an encouraging smile and nodded in Grady’s direction. Savannah had actually been the one to persuade her to clear the air with Grady.

Grady and Cal’s conversation halted as she reached them. Grady looked up at her as if he couldn’t imagine why she was standing in front of him, blocking his view.

“Would you care to dance?” she asked, gesturing weakly toward the couples already circling the polished floor. Her pulse increased by fifty beats a minute, and she was sure he was going to humiliate her by refusing.

Grady frowned.

“It’s ladies’ choice,” she elaborated, her voice growing small.

Grady glanced to either side. “You’re asking me?”